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Worcester City Women: ‘Not reliant on handouts’

Samira Vishwas May 16, 2025 12:12 AM

Success in women’s football is still often dependent on the men’s game.

Funding can hinge on the financial performance of men’s teams, and women’s matches are frequently scheduled in major stadiums, such as the Emirates, only when the men’s side isn’t using them.

While launching women’s teams under the banner of established men’s clubs offers clear advantages, brand recognition, a built-in fan base, and more stable revenue, Nicole Allison, Owner and CEO of Worcester City Women, warns against over-reliance on the men’s infrastructure.

Nicole Allison, Owner and CEO of Worcester City Women.

Sitting down with Insider Sport, she describes the Covid-19 pandemic as a “catalyst for recognising the disparity of how men’s football and women’s football were treated in this country in terms of funding.”

During the period, most women’s clubs were forced to pause due to limited resources, while men’s teams continued to play matches. Although clubs across the board struggled without ticket revenue, Allison points to how the crisis exposed deeper vulnerabilities in the women’s game.

“At the time, I was representing a lot of players and they were clueless as to whether or not their contracts were going to continue. It was a really stressful time, even for players at the very top,” she says.

As financial pressures mounted, clubs lower down the pyramid began to fold. Many women’s teams, heavily dependent on the men’s side, were quickly cut when budgets tightened.

“This is where we really started to see those fragilities in the women’s football industry,” Allison adds. “Because clubs were just folding.”

Time to take action

Allison set out to make a change after witnessing the impact the pandemic had on the women’s game, and what better place to start than close to home.

She noticed Worcester City Ladies were loosely affiliated with Worcester City, but there was no “ focus, any exposure or any visibility on the women’s team at all.” This prompted her to start a conversation about taking over the women’s side, with the aim of putting it “on the map.”

Just over four years later, Worcester City Women are an independent club competing in the National League, an achievement Allison is extremely proud of.

As CEO, Allison balances strategic vision with day-to-day operations. Her role covers everything from long-term planning to ensuring the club functions smoothly across departments.

“It’s quite operational but also quite strategic,” she explains. “A big part of my job as the leader of the club is facilitating our people and bringing them together to make sure they understand their roles and feel empowered to do what they need and want to do.”

Worcester’s structure spans multiple workstreams, from coaching and player development to football operations and logistics. Allison works closely with Lauren McMurchie, Worcester City’s Head Coach, who leads the football side, covering the first team, reserves, and U18s, to strengthen the pathway through the club.

With the club entirely volunteer-led, one of the biggest challenges is scaling to a level where it can pay staff and better support players financially. Still, Allison is cautious about growing too fast. She stresses the importance of building sustainably and understanding where income is coming from.

“We can’t just be reliant on handouts from our men’s team. That isn’t the right way to do things. So we need to be able to grow attendance, sell tickets and create revenue streams,” she states.

Commercial strategy at play

Worcester City Women are laying the groundwork for long-term success, and commercially, the signs are already strong.

Despite a challenging debut season in the National League, the club secured its status in tier four and posted the third-highest average attendance in the division. “As the first season in this league and as an independent club only four years old, the fact that our average attendance is the third highest… shows that we are developing our strength in terms of our foundations,” Allison says.

Image courtesy of Worcester City Women

This growing fan base is underpinned by a standout facility: Sixways Stadium, a 12,000-capacity venue previously home to Rugby’s Worcester Warriors. The club only uses one side of the ground, but its quality and capacity offer room for real growth.

However, with no men’s club to lean on for financial support, commercial partnerships are critical.

“We don’t have the ability to just knock on the door of our men’s counterparts and say, ‘Hey, could you give us a few hundred grand?’” Allison remarks. “We don’t have that and we don’t want to do that. I don’t believe that’s the best way to grow women’s football sustainably. I think we need to stand on our own two feet.”

Local partnerships have proven important to the club’s strategy. Worcester City’s front-of-shirt sponsor, Open GI, is headquartered in Worcester.

“They’ve done amazing activations with us over the last two years,” says Allison, citing employee engagement initiatives like ticket giveaways, hospitality and charity tournaments.

Another standout example is GLP Training, a national apprenticeship company led by a fellow female business owner.

Allison explains that GLP Training plays a leading role in supporting women entering traditionally male-dominated sectors such as construction, plumbing, and electrical work, adding that this mission and its alignment with the club’s values made it a natural fit.

These partnerships go beyond financial support. They’re about shared values, local pride, and building something that can last, not just deals which involve “slapping logos on things”.

More still to be done

Worcester City Women’s journey reflects how far the women’s game has come, but also what’s still needed to ensure its long-term and sustainable growth.

Allison has shared a love for football since she was young, though opportunities for girls were hard to come by. She played in boys’ teams until she was around 12 years old, but for some time felt forced to play other sports while boys continued to play the sport she loved.

This personal experience fuels Allison’s vision for the future, one where women have equal opportunities both on and off the pitch.

As she puts it: “I look at myself as an example; when I was younger, I would never have thought that I would own a football club. I never even thought that I could be a football player. I just thought it was something I could do as a hobby. It’s a big reason why I put myself out there a lot, because I want young girls and boys to see that women can own football clubs.

Women can be football players. Women can be referees. They can be assistant referees. They can work in marketing. They can be whoever they want to be. I think that’s crucial to normalise that for boys and men. I think it’s crucial to give girls and women something to dream about and know they can do anything and everything.”

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